'Lightning bolt' action catches on

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-23 10:38

He points his fingers and cocks his arm as if he's shooting an arrow, like the Greek god Apollo.

Usain Bolt calls his pose "To the World" and it seems to be catching on.

Reigning world champion in discus Gerd Kanter of Estonia took the gold medal with his fourth attempt at 68.82m, then he reprised the "lightning bolt" action to the delight of fans.

Centenarian wired for Games

A 100-year-old woman living in Jiangsu province has become so addicted to watching the Olympics that her family has been pretending the TV has no signal.

Dang Cuiying sits all day cheering on athletes and refuses to take breaks. When her family insists, she sneaks back into the sitting room to watch more Olympic action.

Her family is so concerned about her recent TV habits that they have pulled the antenna out of the socket and pretended there was no signal, according to the Yangtze Evening News.

The pin has dropped

Beijing's most popular pins include logos from sponsors like Coca-Cola and Kodak, along with one that has a pop-out image of the Bird's Nest.

NBC has a camera-shaped pin that lights up and a Samsung pin features a cell phone that slides open, according to the International Olympic Committee website.

Chinese traders tend toward pins depicting dragons, including a set that places Beijing's five Olympic mascots against a dragon in the background.

Li Ning shows caring side

Former Chinese gymnast and star of the Opening Ceremony Li Ning has donated 20,000 euro ($29,700) to a benevolent fund for German gymnast Oksana Chusovitina to cure her son's leukemia.

Oksana Chusovitina is dubbed "Gymnastic grandma" by Germany media. Li Ning told her she was a legend.

The pair took part in the Barcelona Games 16 years ago, reported the Beijing Times.

Adding oil to flames

Chinese fans shouting jia you to cheer on their athletes are confounding foreigners, according to the Yangtze Evening News.

Jia you is literally translated to "add oil", but this doesn't mean anything to foreigners used to shouting "Come on!" or "Go!"

Doesn't suit you, sir

A large man wearing just a pink skirt disturbed an equestrian event in Hong Kong on Thursday.

The Chinanews.com reported that the portly man was run down by security officers and escorted out of the arena.

An Olympics to remember

An elderly sports fan has been collecting newspaper clippings on every Chinese Olympic champion and is making an album out of them.

Wang Pigong, 77, from Hanyang Xin Village in Wuhan of Hubei province, showed his clippings to the Wuhan Evening News, saying: "The more medals the Chinese team wins the busier I am and the happier I feel."

(China Daily 08/23/2008 page27)